Maui dental hygiene students awarded scholarships

Four University of Hawaiʻi Maui College students received scholarships established to support students who are pursuing careers in dental hygiene and intend to live and work on Maui upon graduation.

Andrea Hetherington and Mary Kahaialii received the Maui County Dental Society Scholarship and Kerilyn Dofa and Maricel Paet were awarded the Donald and Alice Tokunaga Scholarship.

The Maui County Dental Society and Sara Jean Tokunaga presented the $500 scholarships, which support and promote Maui College dental assisting graduates who are enrolled in the college’s dental hygiene program.

The students and scholarship donors were recognized at the UH Maui College Dental Scholarship Reception held last month on campus at the Class Act restaurant. All the scholarship recipients successfully completed their studies in the Maui College dental assisting program and are in their first year of the dental hygiene program.

“The scholarship awarded to me has helped with financial obligations and allowed me to focus my time on my studies,” said Hetherington. “I will be forever grateful.”

Maui County Dental Society is a professional association of dentists committed to the enhancement of the oral health education and the dental welfare of the public. The society is a component of the Hawaiʻi Dental Association and the American Dental Association and is dedicated to ongoing continuing education.

“I am honored to be one of the recipients of the 2011 Donald and Alice Tokunaga Scholarship,” said Paet. “It was a great help, which fulfilled some of the expenses that the dental hygiene program demands.”

Sara Jean Tokunaga is a dedicated community member and avid supporter of Hawaiʻi non-profit organizations and the dental programs at Maui College. A former member of the UH Maui College Chancellor’s Advisory Council, she serves as president of the board of the Maui Memorial Medical Center Foundation.